All,

Former 350z owner who moved into a Lotus Exige 5 years back (had my 350 from '07-'09) so it's been a while since I've done much research in the Nissan world. I'm going to be coaching a guy in a 370Z that he's borrowing from a friend for 3 days of intense track work. He recently finished in the top 6 in the nation in the PlayStation/Nissan GT Academy competition in the game Gran Tursimo and in 2 weeks is heading to England for the international finals at Silverstone. While he set the fastest virtual lap time in the US he's never driven on a real track before so we're slamming in as much time as possible in the very limited time he has left.

While he's a noobie I'm expecting him to progress very quickly and as such I'm expecting him to out do the stock pads on the car after day 1. It's a GT car with the Brembo kit so looking for pads for that, most likely front only. I ran both the Hawk HKS and DTC-70s on my Z back in the day but not only didn't really care for them but was quite a bit slower driver then. On my Lotus I run Pagid blacks which are their most aggressive but it doesn't look like Pagid makes pads for the Nissan Brembo caliper, at least I can't find any. BTW I did search through the forum a bit before asking this but didn't find much specifically geared toward track duty. The plan is to swap them on the put the stocks back on after our 3 days of work.

So what would you fellow track rats recommend? Any other words of wisdom on tracking a 370? I'm trilled what's what we'll be in as he's not a heel-toe'er and doesn't really have time to learn that so the fantastic auto-blip will be a welcomed feature. Over at Silverstone he'll be in GT 370z just like this one, GT-Rs for the second round and the new, modern Formula Ford when he makes the finals so he shouldn't need to heel-toe ever. Pretty wild that someone could get a contract as a pro driver never having learned heel-toe, I suppose that's the modern world huh?

Anyway any input you guys have would be very welcomed, while I left the Nissan ranks many years ago my first track car ever (and real sports car) was my 350z, GT, black with burnt orange interior and as such she was my first love. As such I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for these cars.

-Ross

 

Cobalt Friction XR2s are my choice for a race pad. Good, aggressive initial bite with a progressive pedal as you trail off. Easy on rotors and high heat range.

 

Thanks for the reply, with how horribly the stock brakes performed today we're looking to find another car for our work next weekend. After 6 hot laps, at what I'd guess was 80% of the cars ability the brakes faded so badly at the end of the straight at 120 we had nothing and went off at about 100. Luckily no damage to the floor and even after disabling traction control (think it was being too invasive and over breaking the rear) we still had to nurse the car all day. Another friend has a track setup Rx8 that it turns out he can loan us so looks like we'll go that way rather than buy pads.

That said if there are other ideas I'm all ears. I know the 370z isn't really a track car as such but still think with the right setup it should be capable enough for an advanced novice to be able to do more than 6 laps in without completely losing the brakes.

-Ross

 

Does the 370 have the Akebono or the base brakes? The former can be improved with some better pads (I like the EBC Yellow), but I don't think there's much you can do with the base brakes. They just get too hot, too quickly.

 

Its a gt so akenbono

 

Hmmm, I've never tried the Akebono's, but the Brembo's on my '08 aren't that horrible - at least with good pads, SS lines, and fresh fluid.

 

It sounds like the guy can drive, and if you are on stock pads, havent bled the fluid to hi-temp, what did you expect?

If you dont want to prep and just want to arrive and drive, then you should do just that. Otherwise do a bleed and get some pads and youll be fine.

 

Oh don't get me wrong, totally agree and while I was a little surprised this is a sports car after all and not a track car. This all happened quickly, he already has a bottle of ATE 200 on the way and the reason for this post is to determine which pads we will (or may) order. So while I wasn't surprised they faded I was a little surprised they faded in 6 medium-hard laps. We did have traction control on so my guess is it was stepping in more than we realized and as such was constantly heating up the fluid.

So my original question still stands - what pads do you guys like or drive on the track? That's really what I'm looking for, some first hand experience as I'm sure someone on this board tracks a 370Z.

Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate your time.

-Ross

 

Issues with the 370z are fuel starvation and oil temp. So oil cooler would be the first thing to do and some good brake pads. I have tracked my Z for the last 7 years and I have had good success with Ferodo pads. For dual duty my favorite pad is Ferodo DS2500. It will work for 5-10 laps, but if you need more laps get something more aggressive and less rotor friendly.

If you wan't something less rotor friendly and more aggressive that won't fade under extreme heat I would go with Carbotech.

https://www.z1motorsports.com/brakes...nt-p-5352.html

 

My pad of choice is Cobalt Friction's XR2 compound. Aggressive initial bite with rapid deacceleration and progressive feel with clean release. Easy on rotors and high temp range.

BTW- the 370Z is known to have particularly effective underbody aerodynamics and that means little to no airflow through the wheelwells. Adding a set of front brake ducts will help immensely.

 

I really like the Carbotechs. It would be most likely XP10's upfront and XP8's in the rear. How ever they are very noisy and dusty.